Xavier meandered and slouched his way about in the city barring a weird resemblance to New York of his world but thankfully unlike said city and its rabid homeless, this world was inhabited fully by females and male shaped robots, and virtually free of crime. Arona tried getting him back to his duties in his dreams but everytime he ignored her.
After the talk with Hanako, he took to the streets aimlessly trying to get himself lost so he wouldn't have to spare another thought about being the Sensei of all Senseis.
"I miss Prez…" Short for GSC president, truly the only girl he was pleased to be around after facing so much difficulty. Arona was a small, cute and funny version of her, they looked the same, but didn't behave the same.
Nonetheless being in his regular clothes brought a calm sense of relief to his terrible circumstance of being thrusted into the adult position despite being rather young himself. Unknowingly he stumbled into a cafe and after noticing the change in outdoor to indoor scenery. A sense of nostalgia washed over when he recognized the place where he and those girls he played tag with sat at. Memories he shook off with the shake of his head.
He took the opportunity to order himself a cup of frappuccino with extra whip cream, then sat alone at a table by the window so he could watch faceless students and robots walk past.
"I miss Prez…" he said again and in response his phone vibrated. Instinctively he took it out of his phone and who else would it be but Arona—
"Stop saying that! You're gonna make me cry if you keep reminding me…"
"Stop vibrating so much. You're making my leg itch." Xavier's annoyed tone leaked out.
"Sensei!"
"Former—"
"What do you mean former?"
"I can't do it."
"Arrrgh!" Arona threw her fists around. "If I could interact with the real world I would be punching you right now. Beware of falling asleep because I'm gonna feed you a big knuckle sandwich!"
"The only sleep I'll be doing is not waking up." Xavier lowered his head.
Arona glared at his messy hair. "You're starting to sound like Nagisa Sensei. Think about how Prez would feel if she caught you groveling. She'd be mortified at the idea of needing to wear a Yuuka mask just to see you."
He rested his head on his hand. "I'm not that lame. Unlike him I'm brave when it comes to it."
"But not brave enough to be Sensei?"
Having his own contradiction pointed out, he returned his phone to his pocket ignoring Arona's muffled shouts. He leaned back in his booth. "Nope… I'm a total bitch…"
Once his drink was half empty, he took his leave from the cafe to wander the streets again. And by chance he encountered the strange young white haired student that extorted him. Her beret seemed to move on its own when they locked eyes and she smirked smugly.
"Hey mister~!" her high pitched voice was grating to the ears. He simply ignored her and when she called him a mocking name again, he turned around— "Screw off kid. Get lost." making sure not to raise his voice.
"Nn..?!"
Xavier didn't look back to the shock and awe on her face and sped walked elsewhere. Somewhere faraway where he didn't have to find someone he recognized again. His journey elsewhere led him to a park with a fountain in the middle. Exhausted, he sat on the edge of the fountain's wall and looked at the clear sky with a massive halo covering the world. Running away from all his problems wasn't going to solve anything but it sure felt good to abandon all sense of responsibility he owed to the world. Maybe that was the reason Hanako often stripped bare naked, but not in this Blue Archive she didn't. The responsibilities were endless, everything was wrong and students needed to change themselves if they wanted to fix what was improper.
He stood up and faced the reflection in the water and instead of seeing himself, he saw Rio Sensei looking back at him. The phrase 'Wanna play cards' came to mind. What kind of card game were they going to play if at all? Uno? Blackjack?
His brows creased looking at the person he couldn't save. "You aren't real." he repeated "You aren't real. You aren't real. You're dead."
"I'm as real as you want me to be. With you." When Rio pointed at him it was like his hand reached out from the water. "Live."
Xavier threw his head back like he'd awoken from a dream and again he looked at the water's reflection and saw himself this time.
"H-hey..?"
Xavier's eyes widened hearing that voice. Still high pitched but emotionless and all too familiar from how often he heard it. It was distinct from the other student's varied and happy emotions. This student's voice was dull and had all the serious edge like a wolf. Without her blue scarf she was nearly unrecognizable to him, her true identity in this world—but why did she manifest as a younger child?
"You're…" His words trailed off as he turned.
"Are you… okay..?" She hesitated when asking, fearful that he might yell at her again.
Xavier sat crossed legged on the ground. "No… I'm lost."
She tilted her head cutely in response. "Like, lost in the city? I can give you directions if you need."
"Your school is far. Why do you get up everyday and trek all the way there? Don't you get tired of it?"
The young girl pressed her fingers together. "I just do it. I don't think about questions like that… since they're so useless. In the grand scheme of things, I'm not gonna let it get me down."
A silence fell between them and in witnessing his pathetic state, the girl grew her smug grin again and chuckled. "Pfft! You look like a homeless creep when you sit like that."
Xavier couldn't hold back his own smirk at the joke. "Oh yeah? So now I can't sit now huh?" He stood up and stretched his arms, finished with the emotional detour and needing to get back to his work of sabotage. Rio believed in him and surely Yuuka did too, despite once being at odds with each other. As the Sensei of all Senseis he was the beacon of lights for all to follow behind. The light at the end of the hall that led to paradise.
"Ok sucker, get going before it gets too late. And here, it's not much but you can have the rest of it." He held out his half finished drink for her to take. The extra whip cream still filled half of the plastic container. "Just don't drink from the straw—"
Siiipppp!
"Wh–" he stared, baffled at her ignoring his warnings. She pointed back at him, "Perverted! You wanted to see us indirectly kiss, didn't you? You're so trashy."
Nevertheless he rolled his eyes and nudged her along. "Yeah, yeah, spare me the lectures."
Then the sound of a gunshot caused his heart to skip a beat. The bullet folded his leg and it bent incorrectly. His mind went blank before he hit the ground then all at once the pain settled in. He grit his teeth as hard as he could and slammed his eyes shut not wanting to look at his mangled up leg shot from afar. The perpetrator he didn't have to look far for.
"Mister?!"
"R-run..! Gah!" He winced and bit his tongue to hold his scream.
The young girl looked up frightfully at a student emerging from nearby bushes. A black haired and fox eared girl covered in head to toe in tactical armaments over her sailor uniform. Her rifle was customized with an assortment of attachments giving it a bulky look. The halo above her head was red and sharp and shaped like a holographic sight much like the young girl's own halo, that's where the similarities began and ended. The fox girl pressed her microphone collar, "Target hit and down. Moving in to retrieve the target and return back to HQ."
She monologued her actions like a machine while advancing towards Xavier with her rifle lowered and not fearing Shiroko's presence at all. If anything, she knew the kid was nowhere near skilled enough to retaliate. "Stay out of our business." she warned regardless.
"Shit..!" Xavier hissed. He didn't bring his gun and knew no student was going to find him since he abandoned them all. He had to rely on the girl and mimic her reasons to continue going. Truly questions such as 'why do I live' were so stupid to ask as the answer was always right in front of him. The leader of the death parade was before him, he called out her name. "Shiroko!"
Her eyelids raised like a chorus and the mental barrier reached its crescendo, lifting her potential to become death and back. In one swift motion she pulled her rifle by the butt stock out of her backpack and rammed the end of it into the fox girl's stomach making her hop back and raise her own rifle ready for combat.
Another fox eared student, this time with bright pink hair and blue eyes like the sea, emerged dragging her shotgun lazily alongside her leg. "Didn't think we'd be facing resistance, and from a underclassman no less. Ah well, we warned her."
"We aren't here to fight bystanders. Leave it to me to displace her. You return to HQ." The black haired leader commanded and her partner would slouched her shoulders, "Fine by me." and ran off the battlefield.
Shiroko didn't take being underestimated by older students well. From her backpack, she threw down a blocky drone with two missile pods attached on each side, and pulled its power cord far back enough that it recoiled the machine into the air before its propellers could. Immediately after she took aim and fired indiscriminately alongside the missiles homing in on the fox girl.
"Kh..?!" She jumped back and evaded around a slide, a bench and other parts in the park that were blown to bits by the mixed missiles and bullets. She took cover behind a thin tree once the barrage was over, watching the missile drone's exhaust smoke dissipate and the machine drop down.
Similarly Shiroko's rifle was out of ammunition. While this was going on Xavier dragged himself behind the fountain and hammered his leg back into place. He wanted to scream when it snapped back into a somewhat working condition and prayed for Serina to find him soon.
"Your first mistake was wasting your magazine on cheap tricks." The fox-eared girl muttered to herself. She would watch as Shiroko revealed yet another trick, tossed a grenade into the air. She smirked, and easily shot the bomb out of the sky with a single shot.
What she didn't expect was another grenade attached to a now unconnected string to land by her side. A mighty explosion blew her away and black smoke took to the skies. When the smog cleared up the two were gone. Absent from the park, using the grenade as their chance to escape.
The fox-eared girl coughed and touched her collar piece. "Target escaped. His leg is broken so he couldn't have gotten far. Proceeding to investigate again."
"Don't," The voice from her headphones said. "Let him wallow and writhe. He knows we're coming. I want to make this hunt as painful as possible."
"...Understood. Commencing chase in five." She removed her hand from her neck.
Returning by her side was the pink fox with raised brows. "Were you holding back?"
"Naturally. That girl's no Wakamo, not even in the slightest. Let's go."
Having successfully escaped, Shiroko assisted in dragging Xavier back into the city street, dropping him by the wall of a shop since he was getting heavier with each step. He himself couldn't carry his shot leg any further either. The pain was excruciating and he wished a doctor would use whatever gas they used to force their patients asleep. It wasn't carelessness that earned him his pain but bad luck always biting him in the ass at his lowest moments.
"I'll stay with you mister!" Shiroko frantically looked around for anyone or anything that vaguely resembled a nurse.
"Just go! I'll try to hide on my own." Xavier gasped for breath in between words. Then skidding wheels interrupted his peace of mind before succumbing to death. A black six wheeled truck stopped by them and exiting were two white haired students.
One was short and her white hair extended way down, almost touching the ground. She bore four horns that looked like it held her fluffy ponytail from a glance and above her head was a purple striped crown-like halo. Hina, he recognized her as and instead of her military uniform, she wore a black high waist skirt and white blouse. Her wings covered the sides of the long silky skirt and a small top hat with a purple flower accented her hair.
The other student wore a blue uniform and apron Xavier recognized her for. Sena, she was and thankfully she looked and acted the same as ever. Hina on the other hand was more composed, walking with her hands together by her skirt.
Elegantly she spoke, "A sensei? Sena, this is dire if a sensei is injured."
Sena replied, "I'm aware. Izuna might have been the cause of this." She then reached in her truck snagging a black briefcase with a plus sign on it from the back and hurried to Xavier's side. Shiroko watched as Xavier relaxed back his head and closed his eyes, unaware of the hammer Sena brought down on his leg—
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"
A horrific scream echoed throughout the city. Again, Xavier wanted to die. At least Sena got the lodged bullet out and bandaged his leg after applying ointment. He laid flat as if he was already in a casket and Hina leaned over him.
"Do tell me your name sir." She said with utmost curiosity.
"Why do you speak like that?" He peeked one eye open.
"Well mister why do you—"
"My name is Xavier!" He sat up exclaiming.
Giggling, Hina then brought a pipe from her pocket to press to her lips. Bubbles blew out the end and she exhaled. "Xavier… Xavier…" she repeated as her eyelids lowered.
After parsing her thoughts, she returned the pipe to her skirt pocket. "Why were you aside here and wounded?"
"I'm being chased by foxes." Xavier tried to stand up on his own but ended up having to lean on Sena for support. He continued, "Fox Platoon, SRT. Have you heard of it?"
Hina nodded firmly. "Our sensei told us to beware of Schale's affiliate school. Even though we did, taking every precaution to protect him…" after a sigh her emotions settled. "His wishes were for me to protect everyone I could. I was not aware there was another sensei however."
"His story is sad but I've come to put his mind at peace and end it!" Xavier felt more fired up after the unfair assault. His story wasn't going to be tragic like Gehenna Sensei or Rio's. He limped on one foot moving towards the truck. "Sena, take me to the closest clothing store."
She furrowed her brow, confused. "Um… Why?"
He flashed his adult card. "It's time for sabotage."
